Kauai County, HI Hurricane Preparedness: Storm Debris (2026)

Section 21-2.4(a) lets the County Engineer authorize collection of source-separated debris in residential areas once the Governor of Hawai'i or the President declares a disaster and emergency funding is authorized, and the Department must publicize collection dates for each area as widely as possible. Under § 21-2.4(b), residents sort debris into discrete piles within 20 feet of the nearest public road: greenwaste, scrap ferrous and non-ferrous metals, mixed construction and demolition debris, and any other category the County Engineer adds for that disaster. Piles cannot sit on or near utility poles, water meters or mailboxes, and debris only goes out on the announced dates; anyone with leftover debris afterward must haul it to a recycling or disposal facility rather than leave it at the curb, and no disaster debris may go onto a public highway, park, field or vacant lot.

For larger disasters, the Department of Public Works can stand up Debris Recycling Stations under Article 4 that take aggregates, metals, greenwaste, gypsum wallboard, mixed construction debris, white goods and wood debris with no vehicle size cap, and under § 21-4.3, the Engineer may narrow accepted materials to disaster-related items only or expand the list as conditions require. In a catastrophic event, Temporary Emergency Debris Receiving Sites open under Article 5 only with written authorization from the Hawai'i Department of Health, and § 21-5.6 requires the Department to control rodents and vectors, fires, wind-blown litter, scavenging and hazardous waste, and specifically to prevent stockpiled debris from blowing in a tropical storm or hurricane. Chapter 21's general penalty, § 21-1.6, applies to violations here just as to routine collection.